Thursday, January 12, 2017

Irish bishops shelve married priests' proposal

The country's Catholic bishops have
shelved a proposal to ask Pope Francis at a meeting in Rome next week to
consider allowing priests who left ministry to get married to return to
priestly work.

According to "The Irish Catholic" newspaper, the decision follows a
failure by the hierarchy to reach a consensus on proposals by the Bishop
of Kilmore, Dr Leo O'Reilly, which also included considering lifting
the bans on ordaining married men and female deacons.

However, Bishop O'Reilly has told this week's edition of the paper
that the issues may come up when the bishops collectively meet the Pope
tomorrow week.

He indicated that they may also feature during their planned ten-day
series of mandatory 'ad limina' meetings with senior Vatican officials
which begin early next week.

All three proposals emerged from an 18-month-long listening process
in Kilmore - which includes almost all of Co Cavan and sections of
neighbouring counties.

It led to a diocesan assembly and a new diocesan pastoral plan to tackle issues such as the declining number of priests.

The paper recalls that in June 2015, Dr O'Reilly said he was liaising
with other Irish bishops about setting up a commission to discuss the
possibilities of ordaining married men and appointing female deacons.

He also said that Pope Francis was encouraging individual bishops and
national hierarchies to be creative in looking at ways of doing
ministry in the future, and that Ireland must "consider all options".

However, he tells today's 'The Irish Catholic' that no decision was
made when he raised the commission idea with his fellow bishops that
same year.

He said there was an "inconclusive discussion" of it at the Irish
Bishops' Conference, the hierarchy's quarterly meeting in Maynooth.

The Catholic Church's rule of mandatory celibacy for priests was
introduced more than a thousand years after the bible says Christ died
and is matter of discipline rather than doctrine.

It would require changes to church law but would be likely to be
resisted by conservative elements, including senior Cardinals, most
notable, the American Archbishop Raymond Burke, who have been openly
criticising Pope Francis' reforming zeal especially during global
bishops' synods on the Family in Rome in 2015 and last year.

'The Irish Catholic' reports that it is rumoured that Pope Francis is
willing to allow married former priests to return to ministry in Brazil
on a phased and experimental basis.

Last August, the Pontiff established a commission of seven men and
six women to study the issue of ordained female deacons, particularly
their ministry in the early Church.

Its President is Archbishop Luis Ladaria Ferrer, Secretary of the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF). All the Irish bishops
travelling to Rome next week will meet officials from the CDF and other
Vatican departments.

Currently, Catholic deacons must be male.

They perform most of the duties of priests with the key exception of celebrating Mass.

Former president Mary McAleese has campaigned for over two decades
for the ordination of women deacons in the Catholic Church, arguing it
is "ungracious" of its all-male hierarchy to refuse the offers from
women who wish to serve in that role.